Pull-Apart Garlic Rolls Baked in a Cast Iron Skillet

These Pull-Apart Garlic Rolls are loaded with garlic, almost one clove per roll. They are brushed with melted butter that has been infused with sautéed garlic, and baked in a cast iron skillet.

To make these rolls, you sauté 10 cloves of minced garlic in butter. Once you've sautéed the garlic, you press out the butter and set it aside.

The garlic and one tablespoon of the butter go into the dough, and the rest of the butter is brushed over the rolls both before and after baking. If you love garlic, these rolls are for you.

When you make these rolls, your entire house will smell like garlic, which, to me, is a good thing. Rest assured, no vampires will be knocking at your door.

These rolls are soft and light, and the best part is you can serve them just five minutes after they've emerged from the oven.

After five long minutes of waiting, I split one in half, spread it with butter, took a taste, and fell in love with these rolls. It was really difficult to resist eating the entire pan of rolls.

Even though cast iron pans have been around forever, I am fairly new to using them myself. I think it is because I let my first cast iron skillet (which I received as a wedding gift nearly 100 years ago) completely rust. I had no idea how to fix it, so I tossed it in the trash. Now I know how indestructible cast iron pans are and that I could have brought that pan back to life.

I'm happy to have rediscovered the amazingness of cast iron pans. They are perfect for searing food quickly over high heat and they are excellent at retaining heat.

I first rediscovered cast iron pans when I got into baking artisan bread. Cast iron Dutch ovens are the best for creating an environment similar to steam ovens, which help develop amazing crusty loaves.

In addition, serendipitously, a few years ago I bought, seasoned, and have been keeping a carbon steel wok alive for stir frying, and realized that there is little difference in the maintenance needs of either pan. In fact, the naturally nonstick nature of a wok is very similar to cast iron.

I finally gave in and bought this 12 inch cast iron skillet, figuring that if I can keep my Dutch oven and my wok alive, I could figure out how to maintain a cast iron skillet.

If you'd like to learn more about maintaining cast iron pans, be sure to check out The Culinary Fanatic. He has the most amazing collection of cast iron skillets. His Instagram feed is worth following too.

The more you use your cast iron pan, the better it gets. It gradually develops a natural nonstick surface. It's also virtually indestructible, and you can restore it if, for some reason, it rusts or is mistreated.

More Garlic Rolls:

Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Dinner Rolls

Garlic Knots

This month the Baking Bloggers, hosted by Sue of Palatable Pastime, are baking in cast iron. Check out the rest of the cast iron skillet recipes!

• Baked Cheese and Sausage Ziti by Food Lust People Love
• Blackberry Coffeecake Bites by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Cast Iron Jalapeno & Honey Corn Bread by Hardly A Goddess
• Crunchy Dutch Oven Bread by Simply Inspired Meals
• Pull-Apart Garlic Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Skillet Apple Pie by Palatable Pastime
• Skillet Cornbread with Bacon, Onion and Cheddar Cheese by Our Good Life
• Skillet Dinner Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Skillet Rosemary & White Wine Chicken Legs by Sneha's Recipe

garlic, garlic rolls, dinner rolls, pull-apart

bread, rolls

American

Yield: 12 RollsAuthor: Karen Kerr

Pull-Apart Garlic Rolls Recipe

ingredients

• 10 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
• 1 teaspoon plus 3/4 cup warm (110 degrees) water
• 1 1/8 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

instructions

1. In a 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, cook the garlic in 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 teaspoon of water until golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in the rest of the butter and remove the pan from the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes. 
2. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the butter into a bowl, pressing down on the garlic to extract as much liquid as possible. Reserve the garlic and the butter (do not clean the pan). 
3. Whisk the water, yeast, 1 tablespoon of the melted garlic butter, and all of the sautéed garlic in a bowl or liquid measuring cup until the yeast dissolves. 
4. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine. Using the dough hook on low speed, slowly pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Mix on low for about two minutes, and then increase the speed to medium and mix for about eight minutes, until the dough is smooth and springy. The final dough should be tacky but not overly sticky. 
5. Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover, and let rise until doubled, about an hour. 
6. Gently deflate the risen dough and form it into a 12 inch log log. Cut the dough into 12 equal pieces and form each piece into a ball (be sure to keep the dough pieces covered with oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel while you are shaping the balls). Place the balls into the skillet evenly placed apart and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise until puffy, about an hour. 
7. In the meantime, heat the oven (with a rack in the middle position) to 500 degrees F. When the rolls are ready to bake, brush them with half of the reserved garlic butter. Bake the rolls for about 12 minutes, until golden. If necessary, rotate the pan halfway through baking. 
8. Transfer the skillet to a cooling rack and brush the tops with the rest of the reserved garlic butter. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2018/11/pull-apart-garlic-rolls-baked-in-cast.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

Recipe adapted from Cook it in Cast Iron by America's Test Kitchen